In April 2011, Beck announced that he would "transition off of his daily program" on Fox News, but would continue to team with Fox.[13] Beck's last daily show on the network was June 30, 2011.[14] In 2012, The Hollywood Reporter named Beck on its Digital Power Fifty list.[15] Beck launched TheBlaze in 2011 after leaving Fox News. He currently hosts an hour-long afternoon program, The Glenn Beck Program, on weekdays, and a three-hour morning radio show; both are broadcast on TheBlaze. Beck is also the producer of For the Record on TheBlaze.[16]

Glenn and his older sister moved with their mother to Sumner, Washington, attending a Jesuit school[22] in Puyallup. On May 15, 1979, while out on a small boat with a male companion, Beck's mother drowned just west of Tacoma, Washington, in Puget Sound. The man who had taken her out in the boat also drowned. A Tacoma police report stated that Mary Beck "appeared to be a classic drowning victim",[23] but a Coast Guard investigator speculated that she could have intentionally jumped overboard. Beck has described his mother's death as a suicide in interviews during television and radio broadcasts.[23]

After their mother's death, Beck and his older sister moved to their father's home in Bellingham, Washington,[23] where Beck graduated from Sehome High School in June 1982.[24][not in citation given][ Beck also regularly vacationed with his maternal grandparents, Ed and Clara Janssen, in Iowa.[25] In the aftermath of his mother's death and subsequent suicide of his stepbrother, Beck has said he used "Dr. Jack Daniel's" to cope. At 18, following his high school graduation, Beck relocated to Provo, Utah, and worked at radio station KAYK. Feeling he "didn't fit in", Beck left Utah after six months,[26] taking a job at Washington, D.C.'s WPGC in February 1983.[23]

By 1994, Beck was suicidal, and he imagined shooting himself to the music of Kurt Cobain.[30] He credits Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) with helping him achieve sobriety. He said he stopped drinking alcohol and smoking cannabis in November 1994, the same month he attended his first AA meeting.[30] Beck later said that he had gotten high every day for the previous 15 years, since the age of 16.[23]

In 1996, while working for a New Haven area radio station, Beck took a theology class at Yale University, with a written recommendation from Senator Joe Lieberman, a Yale alumnus who was a fan of Beck's show at the time.[33] Beck enrolled in an "Early Christology" course, but soon withdrew, marking the extent of his post-secondary education.[30][34]

Israeli citizens holding banner at the Jerusalem Restoring Courage rally, in which Beck was the main speaker

Beck announced in July 2010 that he had been diagnosed with macular dystrophy, saying "A couple of weeks ago I went to the doctor because of my eyes, I can't focus my eyes. He did all kinds of tests and he said, 'you have macular dystrophy ... you could go blind in the next year. Or, you might not.'" The disorder can make it difficult to read, drive or recognize faces.[40]

On November 10, 2014, Beck announced on TheBlaze that he had been suffering from a severe neurological disorder for at least the last five years.[42] He described many strong and debilitating symptoms which made it difficult for him to work,[43] and he also announced that he had "a string of health issues that quite honestly made me look crazy, and quite honestly, I have felt crazy because of them".[44] Beck related that a chiropractor who specializes in "chiropractic neurology", Frederick Carrick, had "diagnosed [him] with several health issues, including an autoimmune disorder, which he didn't name, and adrenal fatigue." Over a period of ten months he had received a series of treatments and felt better.[45] A number of medical experts have expressed doubt about the legitimacy of Beck's diagnosis, treatment,[46] and the credentials of the chiropractor,[47] with Yale University neurologist Steven Novella dismissing chiropractic neurology as "pseudoscience": "Chiropractic neurology does not appear to be based on any body of research, or any accumulated scientific knowledge, ... [and] appears to me to be the very definition of pseudoscience."[48]

Career

Glenn Beck has managed to monetize virtually everything that comes out of his mouth.

Radio

In 1983 he moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, to work at radio station KZFM.[27] In mid-1985, Beck was hired away from KZFM to be the lead DJ for the morning-drive radio broadcast by WRKA in Louisville, Kentucky.[27] His four-hour weekday show was called Captain Beck and the A-Team.[51] Beck had a reputation as a "young up-and-comer". The show was not political and included the usual off-color antics of the genre: juvenile jokes, pranks, and impersonations.[33] The show slipped to third in the market and Beck left abruptly in 1987 amid a dispute with WRKA management.[52]

Months later, Beck was hired by PhoenixTop-40 station KOY-FM, then known as Y-95. Beck was partnered with Arizona native Tim Hattrick to co-host a local "morning zoo" program.[30] During his time at Y-95, Beck cultivated a rivalry with local pop radio station KZZP and that station's morning host Bruce Kelly. Through practical jokes and publicity stunts, Beck drew criticism from the staff at Y-95 when the rivalry culminated in Beck telephoning Kelly's wife on-the-air, mocking her recent miscarriage.[27] In 1989, Beck resigned from Y-95 to accept a job in Houston at KRBE, known as Power 104. Beck was subsequently fired in 1990 due to poor ratings.[27]

Beck then moved on to Baltimore, Maryland, and the city's leading Top-40 station, WBSB, known as B104. There, he partnered with Pat Gray, a morning DJ. During his tenure at B104, Beck was arrested and jailed for speeding in his DeLorean.[30] According to a former associate, Beck was "completely out of it" when a station manager went to bail him out.[30] When Gray, then Beck were fired, the two men spent six months in Baltimore, planning their next move. In early 1992, Beck and Gray both moved to WKCI-FM (KC101), a Top-40 radio station in New Haven, Connecticut.[30] In 1995, WKCI apologized after Beck and Gray mocked a Chinese-American caller on air who felt offended by a comedy segment by playing a gong sound effect and having executive producer Alf Gatineau mock a Chinese accent. That incident led to protests by activist groups.[53] When Gray left the show to move to Salt Lake City, Beck continued with co-host Vinnie Penn. At the end of 1998, Beck was informed that his contract would not be renewed at the end of 1999.[30]

Television

In January 2006, CNN's Headline News announced that Beck would host a nightly news-commentary show in their new prime-time block Headline Prime. The show, simply called Glenn Beck, aired weeknights. CNN Headline News described the show as "an unconventional look at the news of the day featuring his often amusing perspective".[58] At the end of his tenure at CNN-HLN, Beck had the second largest audience behind Nancy Grace.[59] In 2008, Beck won the Marconi Radio Award for Network Syndicated Personality of the Year.[10]

In October 2008, it was announced that Beck would join the Fox News Channel, leaving CNN Headline News.[60] After moving to the Fox News Channel, Beck hosted Glenn Beck, beginning in January 2009, as well as a weekend version.[61] One of his first guests was Alaska GovernorSarah Palin[62] He also had a regular segment every Friday on the Fox News Channel program The O'Reilly Factor titled "At Your Beck and Call".[63] As of September 2009[update], Beck's program drew more viewers than all three of the competing time-slot shows combined on CNN, MSNBC and HLN.[64][65]

His show's high ratings did not come without controversy.[60]The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz reported that Beck's use of "distorted or inflammatory rhetoric" had complicated the channel's and their journalists' efforts to neutralize White House criticism that Fox is not really a news organization.[60] Television analyst Andrew Tyndall echoed these sentiments, saying that Beck's incendiary style had created "a real crossroads for Fox News", stating "they're right on the cusp of losing their image as a news organization."[60]

In April 2011, Fox News and Mercury Radio Arts, Beck's production company, announced that Beck would "transition off of his daily program" on Fox News in 2011.[66] His last day at Fox was later announced as June 30.[67][68] FNC and Beck announced that he would be teaming with Fox to produce a slate of projects for Fox News and its digital properties.[13] Fox News head Roger Ailes later referenced Beck's entrepreneurialism and political movement activism, saying, "His [Beck's] goals were different from our goals ... I need people focused on a daily television show."[69] Beck hosted his last daily show on Fox on June 30, 2011, where he recounted the accomplishments of the show and said, "This show has become a movement. It's not a TV show, and that's why it doesn't belong on television anymore. It belongs in your homes. It belongs in your neighborhoods."[14] In response to critics who said he was fired, Beck pointed out that his final show was airing live.[14] Immediately after the show he did an interview on his new GBTV internet television channel.[14]

TheBlaze TV (formerly GBTV)

Beck's Fox News one-hour show ended June 30, 2011,[70] and a new two-hour show began his television network which started as a subscription-based internet TV network, TheBlaze TV, originally called GBTV, on September 12, 2011.[71][72] Using a subscription model, it was estimated that Beck is on track to generate $27 million in his first year of operation.[73] This was later upgraded to $40 million by The Wall Street Journal when subscriptions topped 300,000.[74] On September 12, 2012, TheBlaze TV announced that the Dish Network would begin carrying TheBlaze TV. TheBlaze is currently available on over 90 television providers, with eleven of those being in the national top 25.[5][75][76]

Stage shows and speeches

When Beck meets his fans, he does so with the gusto of a public figure engaging his constituents. People he meets often give him presents and notes. He signs autographs, poses for photos. He has perfected the Everyman shtick that presidential candidates spend years trying to master in places like Iowa.

Since 2005, Beck has toured American cities twice a year, presenting a one-man stage show. His stage productions are a mix of stand-up comedy and inspirational speaking. In a critique of his live act, Salon Magazine'sSteve Almond describes Beck as a "wildly imaginative performer, a man who weds the operatic impulses of the demagogue to the grim mutterings of the conspiracy theorist".[89]
A show from the Beck `08 Unelectable Tour was shown in around 350 movie theaters around the country.[90]

In Beck's hometown of Mt. Vernon, Washington, supporters and detractors hold handmade signs on the day Beck was honored by the mayor.

The finale of 2009's Common Sense Comedy Tour was simulcast in over 440 theaters.[91] The events have drawn 200,000 fans in recent years.[92]

In late August 2009, the mayor of Beck's hometown, Mount Vernon, Washington, announced that he would award Beck the Key to the City, designating September 26, 2009, as "Glenn Beck Day". Due to local opposition, the city council voted unanimously to disassociate itself from the award.[95] The key presentation ceremony sold-out the 850 seat McIntyre Hall and an estimated 800 detractors and supporters demonstrated outside the building. Earlier that day, approximately 7,000 people attended the Evergreen Freedom Foundation's "Take the Field with Glenn Beck" at Seattle's Safeco Field.[96]

In December 2009, Beck produced a one-night special film titled "The Christmas Sweater: A Return to Redemption".[97] In January and February 2010, Beck teamed with fellow Fox News host Bill O'Reilly to tour several cities in a live stage show called "The Bold and Fresh Tour 2010". The January 29 show was recorded and broadcast to movie theaters throughout the country.[98]

In July 2013, Beck produced and hosted a one-night stage event called Man in the Moon, held at the USANA Amphitheatre in West Valley City, Utah. The amphitheater sold out all 20,000 of its seats and was released on television and DVD in August 2013. The event was a narrative story told from the point of view of the moon, from the beginnings of the Book of Genesis to the first moon landing. The moon serves as the narrator of the story.

Philanthropy

In 2011, Beck founded the non-profit organization Mercury One, which is designed to sustain itself through its entrepreneurship without the need for grants or donations.[99] In early 2011, Beck began work toward developing a clothing line to be sold to benefit the charity and October 2011, Mercury One began selling the upscale clothing line labeled 1791 exclusively at its website, 1791.com. The clothing in the line's eleven-piece inaugural offering was manufactured by American Mojo of Lowell, Massachusetts.[100]

In July 2014, after tens of thousands of undocumented immigrant children crossed into Texas via the Southern United States Border, unaccompanied by parents, Beck, along with Texas senator Ted Cruz, and Texas representative Louie Gohmert, traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border with his charity organization Mercury One with tractor trailers full of food, hot meals, and teddy bears for the unaccompanied minors. While Beck and Cruz both made it clear in interviews that they wanted a full repeal of DACA, Beck also noted his belief in the importance of helping children caught in "political crossfire". "Through no fault of their own, they are caught in political crossfire, and while we continue to put pressure on Washington and change its course of lawlessness, we must also help," Beck said. "It is not either, or. It is both. We have to be active in the political game, and we must open our hearts." [101]

As of 2017, Beck's "The Nazarene Fund" had reportedly relocated 10,524 Christian refugees from northern Iraq and Syria to other host countries, including Australia, the United States, France, Slovakia, Greece, Lebanon, Brazil, and Canada. The fund's website notes 1,646 families have been evacuated from the ISIS ravaged region since its launch in 2014, and 45,000 people have received humanitarian aid as a result of donations to Mercury One.[102]

Projects and rallies

9–12 Project and Tea Party protests

In March 2009 Beck put together a campaign, the 9-12 Project, which is named after nine principles and twelve values that he says embody the spirit of the American people on the day after the September 11 attacks.[103] The Colorado 9–12 Project hosted a "Patriot Camp" for kids in grades 1–5, featuring programs on "our Constitution, the Founding Fathers, and the values and principles that are the cornerstones of our nation".

"America's First Christmas"

In December 2010, Beck went to Wilmington, Ohio, a town devastated by the late-2000s recession, to host live events to encourage his fans to go to the town to boost the local economy in a project called "America's First Christmas".[106] He hosted an event and his radio and television shows from the local theater.[107]

Restoring Courage 2011 international tour

Beck headlined his "Restoring Courage" events in Jerusalem, Israel, in August 2011 in a campaign Beck said was designed to encourage people worldwide "to stand with the Jewish people".[108][109] After Jerusalem, Beck visited Cape Town, South Africa, and was scheduled to visit Venezuela.[110]

2012 presidential campaign

Actively supporting Mitt Romney as "perhaps the best-known Mormon after the Republican presidential candidate and a major influence on evangelical Christians, ... Beck has emerged as an unlikely theological bridge between the first Mormon presidential nominee and a critical electorate [evangelicals]", according to a pre-election article in the New York Times. Along with personal campaign appearances in Ohio and Iowa, Beck unusually directly addressed doctrinal issues between Mormons and evangelical Christians—wherein the latter often consider the former a "cult" rather than Christian—on his radio show in September 2012. During the one-hour show in early September, he asked his audience, "Does Mitt Romney's Mormonism make him too scary or weird to be elected president of the United States?" The article concluded by addressing the "fear of making Mormonism mainstream" as a reason Beck could be acceptable to evangelicals and Romney not be, quoting John C. Green, the author of The Faith Factor: How Religion Influences American Elections:

There's a difference between a public figure like Glenn Beck and someone who could be the president of the United States. ... Many evangelicals believe this country was founded by Christian leaders. It is important that the person in the White House be positive about Christianity, if not a devout Christian himself.[111]

Restoring Love rally and "Day of Service"

In August 2012, Beck held a rally at AT&T Stadium in Irving, Texas. The event's theme was service to one's fellow citizen, and loving each other. The event saw a "Day of Service", which saw Mercury One (Beck's charity organization) volunteering to feed homeless and disadvantaged individuals, doing community building projects, and mowing lawns. The event culminated in a keynote speech presented by Beck imploring the audience to "commit to each other. Go home and wake up your neighbors." In regards to serving fellow Americans, Beck said, "Those who count us out are counting on one weekend of action, one weekend of speeches. One weekend. One day. Please my fellow countrymen, let this be the first of many." [112][113]

Restoring Unity and Never Again Is Now

In August 2015, Beck and Mercury Radio Arts organized a rally that saw a little over 20,000 people march through the streets of Birmingham, Alabama in a statement of unity and support for the persecuted Christians in Iraq, a cause that Beck's Mercury One charity organization focuses on, and as a call for unity among the American people. After the march, the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex held a rally featuring speakers including Glenn Beck, Ted Cruz, Rafael Cruz, Jon Voight, Alveda King, the niece of Martin Luther King, Jr., and David Barton.

On gay marriage and religious freedom, Beck said, "If you want to get married, that's not my business, that's not the government's business. That's between you and God or you and your spouse or whatever. However, you can't tell my church who I have to marry. If my church says 'no I'm sorry', you can't force me to marry you. I can't force you not to get married someplace else. Somehow or another we'll all find a way, we'll all get along and have barb-e-ques in the backyard, you and your spouse, me and my spouse, we'll all be fine. What's the problem with that? If there's discrimination happening I'm the first to stand in line with you ... there is discrimination and hate here, and it's against those who have religious convictions." [118]

On illegal immigration and sanctuary cities, after a story broke of nine illegal immigrants who had died in the back of a tractor-trailer crossing the border. The truck driver, being accused of murder, Beck said, "17 are in the hospital. Nine are dead. And I have to tell you. The truck driver should get the death penalty. I really believe we need to send a very strong message to people who are acting as coyotes. You get the death penalty, man. If you are caught, and you are transporting people like cattle, and anyone dies, death penalty. This is horrible. Can you imagine how hot that truck was? 100-degree temperatures. This sanctuary city thing is a lure, and brings lots of money into people who will do this kind of thing with an empty semi. So which is it going to be? Are we going to incentivize those people, which will lead to more death and destruction? Or are we going to say we have a border, take it seriously. Personally for the driver of this truck who knew and allowed these people to die, Texas death penalty should be coming his way. I hope he's got a hanging judge." [121]

Although opposed to illegal immigration, Beck announced in June and July 2014 that his foundation, Mercury One, would be making efforts to provide food and relief to the large numbers of migrant children.[122][123][124][125] His move was praised by supporters of immigrant rights and freer migration but met with considerable pushback from his supporter base.[126][127]

On March 18, 2015, Beck officially announced that he had left the Republican Party, saying that the GOP had failed to effectively stand against the president on Obamacare and immigration reform, and because of the GOP establishment's opposition to insurgent lawmakers such as Mike Lee and Ted Cruz.[7]

Beck endorsed Texas senator Ted Cruz in his run for President of the United States in 2016.[128] After Cruz dropped out of the race, Beck voiced support for Evan McMullin from Utah, but he stressed that people should "vote with your conscience in mind".

On May 18, 2018, on his radio show, Beck predicted Donald Trump would win the 2020 Presidential election in a "landslide", saying ""Here's why I'm predicting a 2020 win. When I saw yesterday how the press was all reporting the same damn story — that Donald Trump was calling MS-13 gang members, they left that out of the story, 'animals' — they were spinning it as if he was saying that about all immigrants. I had enough. I've had enough ... Gladly, I'll vote for [President Trump] in 2020 and not really even on his record, which we'll talk about here in a second, is pretty damn amazing." Beck went on to say, "I'll vote for him in 2020", and donned a Make America Great Again hat on his television show.[129]

Opposition to progressivism

What's the difference between a communist or socialist and a progressive? Revolution or evolution? One requires a gun and the other eats away slowly.

During his 2010 keynote speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Beck wrote the word "progressivism" on a chalkboard and declared, "This is the disease. This is the disease in America", adding that "progressivism is the cancer in America and it is eating our Constitution!"[130][131] According to Beck, the progressive ideas of men such as John Dewey, Herbert Croly, and Walter Lippmann, influenced the Presidencies of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson; eventually becoming the foundation for President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal.[130] Beck has said that such progressivism infects both main political parties and threatens to "destroy America as it was originally conceived".[130] In Beck's book Common Sense, he argues that "progressivism has less to do with the parties and more to do with individuals who seek to redefine, reshape, and rebuild America into a country where individual liberties and personal property mean nothing if they conflict with the plans and goals of the State."[130]

Progressive historian Sean Wilentz has denounced what he describes as Beck's progressive-themed conspiracy theories and "gross historical inaccuracies", countering that Beck is merely echoing the decades-old "right-wing extremism" of the John Birch Society.[139] According to Wilentz, Beck's "version of history" places him in a long line of figures who have challenged mainstream political historians and presented an inaccurate opposing view as the truth, stating:

Glenn Beck is trying to give viewers a version of American history that is supposedly hidden. Supposedly, all we historians—left, right and center—have been doing for the past 100 years is to keep true American history from you. And that true American history is what Glenn Beck is teaching. It's a version of history that is beyond skewed. But of course, that's what Beck expects us to say. He lives in a kind of Alice in Wonderland world, where if people who actually know the history say what he's teaching is junk, he says, 'That's because you're trying to hide the truth.'[139]

Conservative David Frum, the former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, has also alleged Beck's propensity for negationism, remarking that "Beck offers a story about the American past for people who are feeling right now very angry and alienated. It is different enough from the usual story in that he makes them feel like they've got access to secret knowledge."[33]

Influences

Political and historical

The old American mind-set that Richard Hofstadter famously called the paranoid style—the sense that Masons or the railroads or the Pope or the guys in black helicopters are in league to destroy the country—is aflame again, fanned from both right and left ... No one has a better feeling for this mood, and no one exploits it as well, as Beck. He is the hottest thing in the political-rant racket, left or right.

In his discussion of Beck and Skousen, Continetti said that one of Skousen's works "draws on Carroll Quigley's Tragedy and Hope (1966), which argues that the history of the 20th century is the product of secret societies in conflict",[130] noting that in Beck's novel The Overton Window, which Beck describes as "faction" (fiction based on fact), one of his characters states "Carroll Quigley laid open the plan in Tragedy and Hope, the only hope to avoid the tragedy of war was to bind together the economies of the world to foster global stability and peace."[130]

Glenn Beck's viewpoint about early 20th century progressivism is greatly influenced by Ronald J. Pestritto, who holds a PhD. in Government from Claremont Graduate University, and currently teaches at Hillsdale College.[148] R. J. Pestritto has been so influential in this respect, that the GlennBeck.com web portal's page for "American Progressivism" [149] not only uses Pestritto's teachings, but links directly to one of his books. Professor Pestritto wrote an article on the Wall Street Journal detailing "Glenn Beck, Progressives and Me".[150] As noted on The New York Times, when Glenn was on his Fox News show, Professor Pestritto was a regular guest.[151][152][153]

Religious

Beck has credited God for saving him from drug and alcohol abuse, professional obscurity, and friendlessness.[161] In 2006, Beck performed a short inspirational monologue in Salt Lake City, Utah,[162] detailing how he was transformed by the "healing power of Jesus Christ", which was released as a CD two years later by Deseret Book, a publishing company owned by the LDS Church, entitled An Unlikely Mormon: The Conversion Story of Glenn Beck.[163]

Writer Joanna Brooks contends that Beck developed his "amalgamation of anti-communism" and "connect-the-dots conspiracy theorizing" only after his entry into the "deeply insular world of Mormon thought and culture".[140] Brooks theorizes that Beck's calls to fasting and prayer are rooted in Mormon collective fasts to address spiritual challenges, while Beck's "overt sentimentality" and penchant for weeping represent the hallmark of a "distinctly Mormon mode of masculinity" where "appropriately-timed displays of tender emotion are displays of power" and spirituality.[140]Philip Barlow, the Arrington chair of Mormon historyand culture at Utah State University, has said that Beck's belief that the U.S. Constitution was an "inspired document", his calls for limited government and not exiling God from the public sphere, "have considerable sympathy in Mormonism".[164] Beck has acknowledged that Mormon "doctrine is different" from traditional Christianity, but he said that this was what attracted him to it, stating that "for me some of the things in traditional doctrine just doesn't work."[165]

Public reception

To his admirers, Glenn Beck has been a voice crying in the wilderness, a prophet who warns us that we have been wandering in darkness too long. To detractors, he is a clown and a buffoon, at best, a dangerous demagogue, at worst.

In 2009, Beck's show was one of the highest rated news commentary programs on cable TV.[167][168][169][170] For a Barbara WaltersABC special, Beck was selected as one of America's "Top 10 Most Fascinating People" of 2009.[171] In 2010, Beck was selected for Time's top 100 most influential people under the "Leaders" category.[172]

Beck has referred to himself as an entertainer,[173] a commentator rather than a reporter,[174] and a "rodeo clown".[173] He has said that he identifies with Howard Beale, a character portrayed by Peter Finch in the film Network: "When he came out of the rain and he was like, none of this makes any sense. I am that guy."[175]

Glenn Beck at CPAC

Time magazine described Beck as "the new populist superstar of Fox News" saying it is easier to see a set of attitudes rather than a specific ideology, noting his criticism of Wall Street, yet defending bonuses to AIG, as well as denouncing conspiracy theories about the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) but warning against indoctrination of children by the AmeriCorps program."[176] (Paul Krugman[177] and Mark Potok,[178] on the other hand, have been among those asserting that Beck helps spread "hate" by covering issues that stir up extremists.) What seems to unite Beck's disparate themes, Time argued, is a sense of siege.[176] An earlier cover story in Time described Beck as "a gifted storyteller with a knack for stitching seemingly unrelated data points into possible conspiracies", proclaiming that he has "emerged as a virtuoso on the strings" of conservative discontent by mining "the timeless theme of the corrupt Them thwarting a virtuous Us".[92]

Beck's shows have been described as a "mix of moral lessons, outrage and an apocalyptic view of the future ... capturing the feelings of an alienated class of Americans".[173] One of Beck's Fox News Channel colleagues Shepard Smith, has jokingly called Beck's studio the "fear chamber", with Beck countering that he preferred the term "doom room".[92]

RepublicanSouth CarolinaU.S. SenatorLindsey Graham criticized Beck as a "cynic" whose show was antithetical to "American values" at The Atlantic's 2009 First Draft of History conference, remarking "Only in America can you make that much money crying."[179] The progressive watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting's (FAIR) Activism Director, Peter Hart, argues that Beck red-baits political adversaries and promotes a paranoid view of progressive politics.[180] Howard Kurtz, of The Washington Post, has remarked that "Love him or hate him, Beck is a talented, often funny broadcaster, a recovering alcoholic with an unabashedly emotional style."[60]

The Paranoid Style in American Politics" reads like a playbook for the career of Glenn Beck, right down to the paranoid's "quality of pedantry" and "heroic strivings for 'evidence'", embodied in Beck's chalkboard and piles of books. But Beck lacks an archenemy commensurate with his stratospheric ambitions, which makes him appear even more absurd to outsiders.[181]

Beck has acknowledged accusations of being a conspiracy theorist, stating on his show that there is a "concentrated effort now to label me a conspiracy theorist".[182]

Particularly as a consequence of Beck's Restoring Honor rally in 2010, the fact that Beck is Mormon caused concern amongst some politically sympathetic Christian Evangelicals on theological grounds.[183][184][185][186] Tom Tradup, vice president at Salem Radio Network, which serves more than 2,000 Christian-themed stations, expressed this sentiment after the rally, stating "Politically, everyone is with it, but theologically, when he says the country should turn back to God, the question is: Which God?"[161] Subsequently, a September 2010 survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and Religion News Service (RNS) found that of those Americans who hold a favorable opinion of Beck, only 45% believe he is the right person to lead a religious movement, with that number further declining to 37% when people are informed he is Mormon.[187][188] Daniel Cox, Director of Research for PRRI, summed up this position by stating:

The disparity between Glenn Beck's favorability ratings and how people feel about him as a religious leader suggests that people are more drawn to him for political reasons than religious ones. Many of Beck's strongest supporters, such as Republicans and white Evangelicals, perceive real differences between their own faith and Beck's Mormon faith, and this may become a liability in his efforts to lead as a religious figure.[187]

Pete Peterson of Pepperdine'sDavenport Institute said that Beck's speech at the rally belonged to an American tradition of calls to personal renewal. Peterson wrote: "A Mormon surrounded onstage by priests, pastors, rabbis, and imams, Beck [gave] one of the more ecumenicaljeremiads in history."[189] Evangelical pastor Tony Campolo said in 2010 that conservative evangelicals respond to Beck's framing of conservative economic principles, saying that Beck's and ideological fellow travelers' "marriage between evangelicalism and patriotic nationalism is so strong that anybody who is raising questions about loyalty to the old, lassez-faire capitalist system is ex-post facto unpatriotic, un-American, and by association non-Christian." Newsweek religion reporter Lisa Miller, after quoting Campolo, opined, "It's ironic that Beck, a Mormon, would gain acceptance as a leader of a new Christian coalition. ... Beck's gift ... is to articulate God's special plan for America in such broad strokes that they trample no single creed or doctrine while they move millions with their message."[190]

Beck's true religion is not Patriotism, Mormonism, or Conservatism. His true religion is cross-platform self-marketing ... According to Beck's worldview, there's no inherent contradiction between his sophisticated instinct for self-promotion, his propagandist rodeo clown act, his self-image as a media mogul, and his professed belief system. I think he actually believes that God wants him to make a ton of money and become this huge celebrity by fear mongering and generally doing whatever it takes in the media to promote right-wing causes.[192]

In September 2010, Philadelphia Daily News reporter Will Bunch released The Backlash: Right-Wing Radicals, High-Def Hucksters, and Paranoid Politics in the Age of Obama.[193] One of Bunch's theses is that Beck is nothing more than a morning zoo deejay playing a fictional character as a money-making stunt.[193] Writer Bob Cesca, in a review of Bunch's book, compares Beck to Steve Martin's faith-healer character in the 1992 film Leap of Faith, before describing the "derivative grab bag of other tried and tested personalities" that Bunch contends comprises Beck's persona:

His (Beck's) adenoidal 'Clydie Clyde' voice is based on morning zoo pioneer Scott Shannon's "Mr. Leonard" character. His history is borrowed from the widely debunked work of W. Cleon Skousen. His conspiracy theories are horked from Alex Jones and maybe Jack Van Impe. His anti-Obama, anti-socialist monologues are pure Joe McCarthy. His chalkboard is stolen from televangelist Gene Scott. His solemn, over-processed radio monologue delivery is a dead ringer for Eric Bogosian in Talk Radio. This is all well-worn stuff, but no one has drawn it all together and sculpted it for the purpose of conning an especially susceptible audience during turbulent racial and economic times.[193]

Public disputes

Barack Obama

Beck has a history of criticizing President Barack Obama, but that seemed to change in 2016.[207]

In response to Obama's remarks on the Henry Louis Gates controversy, Beck argued that Obama has repeatedly shown "a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture", saying "I'm not saying he doesn't like white people. I'm saying he has a problem. This guy is, I believe, a racist."[208] These remarks drew criticism, and resulted in a boycott promulgated by Color of Change.[209] In 2009, the boycott resulted in at least 57 advertisers requesting their ads be removed from his programming, to avoid associating their brands with content that could be considered offensive by potential customers.[210][211][212] He later apologized for the remarks, telling Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace that he has a "big fat mouth" and miscast as racism what is actually, as he theorizes, Obama's belief in black theology.[213] In November 2012, Beck attempted to auction a mason jar holding an Obama figurine described as being submerged in urine (in fact, submerged in beer). Bidding reached $11,000 before eBay decided to remove the auction and cancel all bids.[214][215]

In a 2016 interview with The New Yorker, Beck said of his previous disputes with Obama: "I did a lot of freaking out about Barack Obama." But added, "Obama made me a better man." Beck said that he regrets calling Obama a racist and that, "There are things unique to the African-American experience that I cannot relate to, I had to listen to them." Beck now supports Black Lives Matter.[207]

Van Jones

In July 2009, Beck began to focus what would become many episodes on his TV and radio shows on Van Jones, Special Advisor for Green Jobs at Obama's White House Council on Environmental Quality. Beck called Jones, "an avowed, self-avowed, radical revolutionary communist". In rating Beck's claim as "Mostly False", PolitiFact said "Beck would have been on solid ground if he said Jones used to be a communist. Jones has been up front about that".[216]

Beck also criticized Jones for his involvement in STORM, a Bay Area radical group with Marxist roots,[217] and his support for death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal, who had been convicted of killing a police officer. Beck spotlighted video of Jones referring to Republicans as "assholes", and a petition Jones signed suggesting that George W. Bush knowingly let the September 11 attacks happen. Time magazine credited Beck with leading conservatives' attack on Jones.[92]

In a move attributed by The New York Times as a response to the controversies by the White House, which had not seen Jones' position as senior enough to warrant a full vetting, and Jones' decision that "the agenda of this president was bigger than any one individual," Jones resigned his position in September 2009.[218] Jones characterized the attacks from his opponents as a "vicious smear campaign" and an effort to use "lies and distortions to distract and divide".[217]

On December 7, 2009, the former Massachusetts Attorney General, after an independent internal investigation of ACORN, found the videos that had been released appeared to have been edited, "in some cases substantially". He found no evidence of criminal conduct by ACORN employees, but concluded that ACORN had poor management practices that contributed to unprofessional actions by a number of its low-level employees.[222][223][224][225] On March 1, 2010, the District Attorney's office for Brooklyn determined that the videos were "heavily edited"[226] and concluded that there was no criminal wrongdoing by the ACORN staff in the videos from the Brooklyn ACORN office.[227][228] On April 1, 2010, an investigation by the California Attorney General found the videos from Los Angeles, San Diego and San Bernardino to be "heavily edited",[229] and the investigation did not find evidence of criminal conduct on the part of ACORN employees.[229][230] On June 14, 2010, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its findings, which showed that ACORN evidenced no sign that it, or any of its related organizations, mishandled any federal money they had received.[231][232] In March 2010, ACORN announced it would be closing its offices and disbanding due to loss of funding from government and private donors.[233]

According to a 2010 study in the journal Perspectives on Politics, Beck played a prominent role in media attacks on ACORN.[234]

Satire website

In 2009, lawyers for Beck brought a case (Beck v. Eiland-Hall) against the owner of a satirical website named GlennBeckRapedAndMurderedAYoungGirlIn1990.com with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The claim that the domain name of the website is itself defamatory was described as a first in cyberlaw.[235] Beck's lawyers argued that the site infringed on his trademarked name and that the domain name should be turned over to Beck.[236] The WIPO ruled against Beck, but Eiland-Hall voluntarily transferred the domain to Beck anyway, saying that the First Amendment had been upheld and that he no longer had a use for the domain name.[237]

Jewish Funds for Justice

In January 2011, in protest against what they saw as inappropriate references to the Holocaust and to Nazis by Beck (and by Roger Ailes of Fox News), four hundred rabbis signed an open letter published as a paid advertisement in The Wall Street Journal. The ad was paid for by Jewish Funds for Justice (JFFJ), which had previously called for Beck's firing. The JFFJ have claimed on their website that Beck seems "to draw his material straight from the anti-Semitic forgery, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion".[238] The letter states that Beck and Fox had "... diminish[ed] the memory and meaning of the Holocaust when you use it to discredit any individual or organization you disagree with. That is what Fox News has done in recent weeks." In response, a Fox News executive said to Reuters that the letter was from a "George Soros-backed leftwing political organization".[239][240]

Claims of Anti-Semitism

In 2010, Beck was accused of being anti-Semitic for criticizing George Soros, after a segment on his Fox News show. Beck said, "[Soros] used to go around with this anti-Semite and deliver papers to the Jews and confiscate their property and then ship them off. And George Soros was part of it. He would help confiscate the stuff. It was frightening. Here's a Jewish boy helping send the Jews to the death camps." The Anti-Defamation League said Beck's remarks were "horrific" and "totally off-limits." [241]

On February 22, 2011, during a discussion on his radio show about the controversy surrounding his earlier comments about Soros, Beck said "Reform Rabbis are generally political in nature. It's almost like radicalized Islam in a way where it's less about religion than it is about politics." He was quickly criticized by other conservatives, rabbis, and others. The Anti-Defamation League labeled Beck's remarks "bigoted ignorance". On February 24, Beck apologized on air, agreeing that his comments were "ignorant".[242][243]

In 2016, Beck, a friend of actor and director Mel Gibson claimed he and Gibson shared a conversation in which Gibson claimed Jewish people had stolen a copy of The Passion of the Christ before its official theatrical release, and that Jewish people were assaulting him in the streets.[244]

2011 Norway attacks

Beck condemned the 2011 Norway attacks,[245] but was condemned for his comparison of murdered and surviving members of the Norwegian Workers' Youth League to the Hitler Youth. He said, "There was a shooting at a political camp which sounds a little like, you know, the Hitler Youth or whatever, you know what I mean. Who does a camp for kids that's all about politics? Disturbing."[246] The statement was ill-received in Norway, prompting political commentator and Labour party member Frank Aarebrot to label Beck as a "vulgar propagandist", a "swine" and a "fascist",[247] and Torbjørn Eriksen, former press secretary to Norway's prime minister Jens Stoltenberg, to describe Beck's comment as "a new low", adding that "Glenn Beck's comments are ignorant, incorrect and extremely hurtful".[248] Commentators pointed out that groups affiliated with the Tea Party movement and the Beck-founded 9–12 Project also sponsor politically oriented camp programs for children.[247][248][249][250][251]

2016 SIRIUS XM Suspension

While interviewing Brad Thor on his radio show, Beck opposed Donald Trump during his 2016 campaign for president, comparing Trump to Adolf Hitler.[252]Sirius XM suspended Beck on May 31, 2016 for remarks made during an interview a week earlier. During an interview with author Brad Thor about a hypothetical situation where Trump was abusing his power as president and Congress was unable to stop him, Thor asked "what patriot will step up and [assassinate him] if, if, he oversteps his mandate as president?"[253] Thor and the show's general manager both denied that the comments were a call for his assassination.[254]

Beck's radio show was moved from the SIRIUS XM Patriot channel to the Triumph channel soon after.[255]

On May 18, 2018, Beck stated on his radio program that he intended to vote for Trump in the 2020 presidential election. He opposed negative media coverage of Trump and called Trump's record "pretty damn amazing".[256]

^Couric, Katie (September 22, 2010). "@katiecouric: Glenn Beck"(podcast). CBS News. 1:45. [Couric]: How would you describe your brand of politics? [Beck]: I don't know, ummm ... libertarian, but I hack the libertarians off ... I still believe in a strong national defence. Though I'm becoming more and more libertarian every day.

^Glenn Beck's Common Sense: A Case Against an Out-Of-Control Government, Inspired By Thomas Paine